


For The Greater Good

by SPNxBookworm



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt William Brandt, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 19:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9253379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SPNxBookworm/pseuds/SPNxBookworm
Summary: Will had returned from a solo mission two days ago, shaken up, bruised and battered. Ethan had known in an instant that things had probably gone sideways.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iamremy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamremy/gifts).



> This was written for my lovely wifey, Naila. I promised her a 100 word drabble if she finished studying for her exam tomorrow and then I got carried away and this happened. Enjoy :P 
> 
> Her prompt was to have Ethan, Will or both in a mission debriefing. I...got a little carried away. I was originally going to write a EthanWill whisper banter during a mission briefing and not paying attention to Hunley and...stuff, but well, this happened. *shrugs* 
> 
> This fic is un-beta'd and the result of an hour long writing session in attempt to cure my stubborn writers block. So apologies for any errors.

Ethan never knew he was capable of fidgeting. Yet, he came to realize, when it came to Will he had all sorts of habits that he wasn’t previously aware of. He nervously twisted and pulled on the lanyard of his new identity card.

_Identity card._

Yet another rule of Hunley’s. While Ethan didn’t oppose of him as the new Secretary, he certainly didn’t prefer him. Especially this particular moment as he watched Will bow his head and clench his jaw on the other side of a glass encased room, while a red-faced, furious Hunley looked as if he was about to spontaneously combust.

_Asshole._

Will had returned from a solo mission two days ago, shaken up, bruised and battered. Ethan had known in an instant that things had probably gone sideways. However, in these two days apart from casual small talk and the usual greetings to one another, Will had been quiet, preparing his report to debrief the Secretary.

_Secretary Asshole._

Ethan’s brows furrowed in worry as Will slammed his file onto the desk in the soundproof conference room, looking as though he was yelling back before yanking open the glass and storming out. He walked directly past a concerned and surprised Ethan who decided to wait a few minutes before going after him.

He counted exactly three hundred seconds before walking towards the men’s locker room. He turned the corner to see Will cradling his left wrist, slumped on a wooden bench situated between two rows of lockers. The locker directly in front of Will had a large dent in it. 

_Ouch. That must have hurt._

Without saying a word, Ethan got out his handkerchief, ran it under some cold water from the sinks at the far end of the locker room and sat next to Will. He gently took his husbands hand and dabbed along the reddish bruise slowly starting to form.

When Will didn’t argue, Ethan took it as a good sign.

“You okay?”

Will nodded.

Ethan sighed. “Are you _okay_ _?_ ”

Will withdrew his hand from Ethan’s grasp, burying his face in them. “He had no right,” Will choked out.

“Who? Asshole?”

Ethan smiled as Will let out a chuckle. “Look if you don’t want to talk about it, I get it. But I’ll be here when you’re up to it, okay?”

Will nodded. “Yeah, I know. Just, I need a couple hours to myself; to calm down and stuff. I’ll meet you back home?”

Ethan nodded, planting a soft kiss onto Will’s forehead. “Take your time.”

**~o~**

Ethan heard the front door unlock at around one a.m. in the morning. He’d been lounging on the couch, drifting in and out of sleep as he’d waited for Will. He heard Will curse under his breath when the sound of keys hitting the floor echoed in the silence.

“Morning,” Ethan grunted as he sat up, stretching his arms out towards the ceiling.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay. I wasn’t really sleeping anyway.”

“I also didn’t mean to stay out so long,” Will said. “Benji needed some help with paperwork and I decided to stay and help.”

“That’s okay. I’ve stayed and helped Jane a few times over the years. Paperwork is a bitch.”

Will chuckled.

_Second time today. That’s an improvement._

“Yeah, I guess,” Will said, rubbing the back of his head. He then took off his jacket and shoes and hopped onto the couch, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Ethan.

They sat in silence for a next few minutes. Will had ended up with his head on Ethan’s lap with Ethan absently stroking his hair when Will finally spoke.

“She was twelve.”

Ethan’s attention immediately perked up, curious, but he stayed silent, knowing Will would continue in his own time.

“I lost my target because the collateral damage from chasing after him for twenty minutes was a bullet into the chest of an innocent twelve-year-old.”

Ethan felt a sense of dread settle in him. This job never got any easier.

“He shot that little girl without breaking a stride. It’s like he knew…like…”

“Like he knew you’d stop and help the child,” Ethan finished for him. “I don’t blame you, love. I’d have done the same.”

Will sat up, anger in his eyes. “Hunley didn’t seem to think so. I’m not saying his argument wasn’t good, because it was. We’ve been after this guy for three years and he’s always been one step ahead. We'd got him cornered and…" 

Will ran a hand over his face, breathing heavily. “I would never have forgiven myself if I just left her there on the streets, Ethan. He got away because I made a decision.”

Ethan frowned. “Wait, so he was snapping at you about _that_?” he asked, furious. _Did an innocent life not matter anymore?_

“As he put it,” Will mimicked, “ _It’s for the greater good. The price of one does not outweigh the price of hundreds of others, William._ ”

“What the fuck, that piece of shit, I will – “

Will clamped a hand over Ethan’s mouth, startling him. He raised his eyebrows in confusion, not having received such a reaction from Will before.

“It’s the only way to get you to shut up. I do it when you snore sometimes.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “I do not snore!”

Will rolled his eyes, “You do and so do I, actually. Anyway, Ethan, he had a point. Because it’s true and because this job can be a fucking piece of donkey poop sometimes.”

Ethan coughed, trying to cover up a laugh. “Excuse me but, ‘donkey poop’?”

Will flipped him off, laughing under his breath himself. He looked at Ethan, who saw pain but sincerity in his husband’s eyes. “I’m okay, Ethan. I just…I blew up at Hunley because I was mad. He came and apologized before I left.

“It was a child, and it just threw me off. This job isn’t always as good when you know that there will always be those cases where the lives of hundreds or thousands matter more than the life of one.”

Ethan laid a hand on the back of Will’s neck, gently massaging. “I know. It’s not easy. How about you sleep now and we can talk more about it in the morning?”

Will agreed and headed off into their bedroom to freshen up and change.

Ethan sat on the couch, the dread just as evident as when Will had mentioned the youngster. It disturbed him too. He got to his feet, followed his partner and flopped onto his bed, waiting for Will to get out of the bathroom. 

A few minutes later, with Will softly snoring next to him, he was drifting off towards a dreamland filled with dark images of blood filled streets and children no older than ten screaming his name.

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> As always, reviews are love!
> 
> She in turn wrote one for me studying. Guys, it's come to a point where only ethanwill fics motivate us. ;-;  
> [Here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9257033?view_adult=true) is hers! Do check it out, it's glorious! *-*


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